Obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States. Currently, more than 15% of the population is obese. Obesity is characterized by a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30.0 kg/m2. Many diseases, including stroke, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease, have obesity as a substantial risk factor. The need to develop better methods of treatment has increased now more than ever. Current treatments involve surgerical interventions that reshape the gastrointestinal tracks. These procedures have a high mortality rate and often lead to other complications such as malnutrition.
In other approaches, the stomach or the nerves to the stomach are electrically stimulated to create a sensation of fullness, to cause individuals to stop eating at an earlier point than normal, which will cause the individual to cut caloric intake. Recent studies have shown that the electrical stimulation of the vagal afferent nerves reduces food intake in laboratory animals which leads to a significant weight loss. Selective electrical stimulation of the afferent nerve fibers from the stomach, however, is difficult. Also, non-selective electrical stimulation could reduce the effectiveness of the treatment.
What is needed is a device and method to safely control food intake. Further what is needed is an implantable device capable of influencing food intake.